I first met this band while doing media coverage at the Burns Festival in Ayr last year, I was doing some interviews for the Ayr Play battle of the bands competition that night and this band were playing as part of it. There was something special about Acrylic Iqon which set them apart from the rest that night and made me metaphorically sit up and take notice. In such a short space of time this band have achieved great things not only did they win Xfm's "rock school" but they have also had the opportunity to play some prestigious support slots alongside the likes of The View, Idlewild and The Fratellis.
Their latest offering in conjunction withKittiwake Recordsis their debut single "Close your eyes", if you have ever listened to any other tracks by this band you will know what I mean when I say their music has the ability to lift your mood. This new track is no different, the dual vocals compliment each other perfectly and they have the well known Scottish "twang" that has become common from the scene. The song incorporates the usual upbeat and as some have said "power-pop" tones I have come to associate with this band. All in all a fantastic offering from one of the up and coming bands of the Scottish scene. If you haven't already checked this band out then I highly recommend you do.
You can check this band out live at their release party with support from Run From Red and Forgotten Sunday Saturday 2nd April at:
The Bay
142 West Regent Street
Glasgow
G2 2 RQ
£4 entry/Doors 7PM
You can check out Acrylic Iqon and their tracks here
My apologies for the lack of content since October I started a new job and its been a bit hectic as of late. A lot of changes have been made in my life as well hence the blog has been affected by this. Worry no more though :), I am back and I have some new stuff coming up. There is also a very exciting opportunity that going through the first stages of happening so I shall reveal all when it happens.
I have been busy working away on some press packs for bands the last couple of weeks and helping out my good friend Preston from Jackhammer Promotions and Management who is based in Brighton. Congratulations are in order for him to as he has now been confirmed as booking agent for a rather interesting band called Bad Pollyanna. I have also been working with my good friends from New Device who just completed their latest UK venture called the Powerage tour with Lethargy, Million Dollar Reload and The Treatment. I had a fantastic time working the merch table for the ND guys and the banter from the rest of the bands was fantastic. I would recommend you check them all out.
Anyway to wrap this up got a lovely email from my good friend Robbie Harrison from School Lane Records tonight regarding a band he works with called Acrylic Iqon who I met while doing media coverage at Ayr's Burns an all that music festival. The band have their debut single coming out and their launch night is tomorrow night at The Bay in Glasgow. I advise you check them out they are fantastic. I shall be doing a review of said single tonight with a small piece accompanying it. I hope you enjoy it.
One last note to end my prattling on if you would like to be covered or you know someone I should be covering in this blog then please do not hesitate to contact me at lovemusicpr@gmail.com
One band that seems to be a permanent fixture within the Ayrshire music scene now is Colour Cells. It’s hard to imagine them not being a band and part of the scene but like most bands now a day’s Colour Cells formed out of previous bands demise. They first formed when doc and gee started writing new songs together after the demise of their previous band The Kush with an instrument change from drummer to guitarist for gee and the recruitment of their old bassist from the previous band the line up was nearly complete. The only space left was for a drummer this was filled by doc’s good friend Andy from The Hunky Dorys.
Colour Cells take their music influences from such bands as Gomez, Tame Impala, Radiohead, The Who. The sound they produce within their music reminds listeners of a time when music was about good old rock and roll and not about how the front mans hair style looked. The guys are down to earth with their music and in their live shows which I personally have had the pleasure of putting them on twice they are interactive with the crowd and make the whole affair very casual and laid back.
Not only are Colour Cells now a solid feature within the Ayrshire music scene but they have also had the experience of playing in London in February 2009 in their biggest gig to date supporting Alabama 3 in Dirty South. An experience summed up by them in the following way;
“12 hours on coaches and subways in a blizzard. It was awesome!”
When asked about the bands future Doc revealed that the band are going to be focusing on
“Recording, writing, rehearsing, more gigs, back to London, just go with the flow really. No big plans for world domination. I hate to see bands get built up too soon and then they disappear. We've still got a lot of material in us. “
In regards the local music scene at the moment the band felt that
“There are some great bands and performers out there who are producing and distributing their own material to a high standard. It feels like there is a scene kicking off just now and it's a good time to be involved. Hopefully more venues next year will be the push it needs. ”
The final thoughts when talking to Colour Cells were ones of reflection, when asked what their biggest achievement was as a band since forming their answer was simple and full of honesty and gratitude to others.
“Although we've come a long way since 2008 it's still early days with the band. We can only measure our success just now by our live performances. there's definitely been more interest in us this year in particular, Wrecked Chord Records and The AMA have been really supportive and we do feel part of a new emerging Ayrshire scene. “
Colour Cells currently have only have 2 songs recorded and are working on more in order to complete their first release.
The band will also be playing the Ayrshire Music Association launch night on the 8th October along with some of Ayrshire finest artists.
In recent years it seems there has been a trend surge within electronic music and its sub genres with each being very popular with the general public. Although this may be true for the masses there are still some who go under the radar one of these artists is Ayrshire’s rising talent Swin Deorin.
Swin Deorin crosses the barriers within electronic music and delves into the experimental side of the genre, “It started out as experimentation on computer programs and evolved into something else entirely”
With an impressively varied collection of influences ranging from Aphex Twin to Tom Waits and also including such artists as The Prodigy, Autechure, Bjork, the Allman Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the Dust Brothers. Swin manages to create a unique sound which has started to become more popular with fans even having people within Mexico and as far away as Japan checking out his recent remix of Lady GaGa. He has also managed to rack up over 3000 downloads of his album “Dank Infestor” which for an unsigned act is rather impressive. Swin has managed to go global.
The thing that truly makes Swin different from others is his attitude to music. Even when there is such a debate going on about illegal music downloading and the slow collapse of the major record labels and indeed the music business itself he continues to put his music up for free to download. Swin now had a back catalogue of 10 releases so far of which more will be added in the future.
Even though he has only ever played one gig in his career he still works tirelessly at his music and has future hopes of more shows including a tour of the UK, Europe and possibly the USA. Swin has also worked with such underground artists like Endometrium Cuntplow, RedSK, Soni Jimm and many more.
Although his music may not be to everyone’s taste there is no denying that Swin has started making waves in the underground and indeed the local scene. Praise must be given for this accomplishment.
You can download all of Swin’s work at the below links
For single tracks
http://swindeorin.official.fm/
For full albums
http://www.myspace.com/swindeorin
In March 2007 Ayrshire music almost lost one of their most promising and loved artist Martin McLaughlan. Thankfully with the support of his now fiancé, he picked his guitar back up and gave it another go. Martin quite openly said that if it wasn’t for her then he still wouldn’t have thought about it. From this rebirth into music as it where Martin managed to play one of his best gigs in the 02 Academy in Glasgow.
With musical influence ranging from Jon McLaughlin and Newton Faulkner to Dallas Green and Eric Clapton, Martin breathes new life into acoustic music by provided it with a rocky edge which is not always seen within this genre.
When asked about what makes him unique Martin states that “I’m me, I don’t try and be anyone else and I don’t try to sound like anyone else. My style might not be unique, but the way I feel about my music is something that not a lot of musicians have.”
It is this feeling about music that does make Martin stand out from other artists within the area. His focus and passion for the music he creates and performs is outstanding, unlike most artists who want only money Martin cares deeply about his art -a bit of financial gain from it wouldn’t go a miss for him though since he now has a wedding to pay for. He believes firmly though that as long as he is still making music and has those closest to him in his life then he would be happy regardless of anything else.
Within a discussion concerning the local music scene within Ayrshire he feels that “It’s dire, the music is there, the acts are there and the commitment is there, it just needs nurtured into something we can be proud of.”
At present Martin is focusing on the upcoming recording of his eagerly awaited debut EP yet unnamed later this month (23rd of August to be exact), which is going to be recorded by his close friends from another local band The Underdog Theory.
For any future gigs and any other information concerning Martin, you can check out his pages on Facebook and MySpace of which the links are below.
So I wrote a review a good few months back for Glasgow Music and I have now realised its been kinda put into the stored file per say so I have reclaimed it and going to put the whole thing on here below, Enjoy
THISFAMILIARSMILE - Red Wine
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Since the release of their 2008 EP "What kind of monster am I ?" Glasgow/Ayr four piece ThisFamilarSmile have been on a fast track to success.Not only have they gained a massive fan base but have toured the UK and parts of Europe playing festivals and general shows.
Their latest offering is their new single "red wine" from their new debut album "Ribbons,Regards and The More Machine" which is out later this year.
The song includes all the usual complexed melodies expected from the band with well blended vocals and the outstanding passion that seems to be in all their songs. Essentially ThisFamilarSmile are a band who put a new spin on an already saturated genre of music and have managed to keep a sense of individuality about them.
With rave reviews from publications like Rocksound the band are sure to be very successful in the future and with the release of their album later this year I can only imagine their popularity growing even more.
